HMAS Ovens
Encyclopedia
HMAS Ovens (S 70) is an Oberon class
Oberon class submarine
The Oberon class was a 27-boat class of British-built diesel-electric submarines based on the successful British Porpoise-class submarine....
submarine formerly of the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(RAN) which is now preserved as a museum ship.
Design and construction
The Oberon class was based heavily on the preceding Porpoise classBritish Porpoise class submarine
The Porpoise class was an eight-boat class of diesel-electric submarines operated by the Royal Navy. This class was originally designated patrol submarines, then attack. They were the first conventional British submarines to be built after the end of World War II...
of submarines, with changes made to improve the vessels' hull integrity, sensor systems, and stealth capabilities. Eight submarines were ordered for the RAN, in two batches of four. The first batch (including Ovens) was approved in 1963, and the second batch was approved during the late 1960s, although two of these were cancelled before construction started in 1969, with the funding redirected to the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm (RAN)
The Fleet Air Arm , known formally as the Australian Navy Aviation Group, is the division of the Royal Australian Navy responsible for the operation of aircraft. The FAA was founded in 1947 following the purchase of two aircraft carriers from the Royal Navy...
. This was the fourth time the RAN had attempted to establish a submarine branch
Royal Australian Navy Submarine Service
The Royal Australian Navy Submarine Service is the collective name of the submarine element of the Royal Australian Navy. The service currently forms the Navy's Submarine Force Element Group and consists of six Collins class submarines....
.
The submarine is 295.2 feet (90 m) long, with a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 26.5 feet (8.1 m), and a draught of 18 feet (5.5 m) when surfaced. At full load displacement, she displaces 2,030 tons when surfaced, and 2,410 tons when submerged. The two propeller shafts are each driven by an English Electric motor providing 3,500 brake horsepower and 4,500 shaft horsepower; the electricity for these is generated by two Admiralty Standard Range supercharged V16 diesel generators. The submarine could travel at up to 12 knots (6.5 m/s) on the surface, and up to 17 knots (9.3 m/s) when submerged, had a maximum range of 9000 nautical miles (16,668 km) at 12 knots (6.5 m/s), and a test depth of 200 metres (656.2 ft) below sea level. When launched, the boat had a company of 8 officers and 56 sailors, but by the time she decommissioned, the number of sailors had increased to 60. In addition, up to 16 trainees could be carried.
The main armament of the Oberons consisted of six 21 inches (533.4 mm) torpedo tubes. The British Mark 8 torpedo was initially carried by the submarine; this was later replaced by the wire-guided Mark 23. Between 1977 and 1985, the Australian Oberons were upgraded to carry United States Navy Mark 48 torpedo
Mark 48 torpedo
The Mark 48 and its improved ADCAP variant are heavyweight submarine-launched torpedoes. They were designed to sink fast, deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships.-History:...
es and UGM-84 Sub Harpoon
Boeing Harpoon
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system, developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas . In 2004, Boeing delivered the 7,000th Harpoon unit since the weapon's introduction in 1977...
anti-ship missiles. As of 1996, the standard payload of an Australian Oberon was a mix of 20 Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes and Sub Harpoon missiles. Some or all of the torpedo payload could be replaced by Mark 5 Stonefish
Stonefish (mine)
Named after a venomous fish, the Stonefish influence mine is manufactured by a British company . Originally, the weapon was supplied to the Royal Navy, but it has also been exported to friendly countries such as Australia, which has both warstock and training versions of Stonefish.Stonefish mines...
sea mines, which were deployed through the torpedo tubes. On entering service, two stern-mounted, short-length 21 inches (53.3 cm) torpedo tubes for Mark 20 anti-submarine torpedoes. However, the development of steerable wire-guided torpedoes made the less-capable aft-firing torpedoes redundant; they were closed off, and later removed during a refit.
Ovens was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde.- History :...
at Greenock, Scotland on 17 June 1966, launched on 4 December 1967, and commissioned into the RAN on 18 April 1969.
Operational history
In 1970, Ovens visited ports in New Zealand. The submarine visited New Zealand again during late August and early September 1971, and was used to train Royal New Zealand Navy vessels in anti-submarine warfare.In January 1972, Ovens was deployed to South East Asia to serve with the ANZUK
ANZUK
ANZUK was a tripartite force formed by Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to defend the Asian Pacific region after the United Kingdom withdrew forces from the east of Suez in the early seventies. The ANZUK force was formed in 1971 and disbanded in 1974....
force: the first RAN submarine to do so. During the deployment, which lasted until June, the boat participated in SEATO Exercise Sea Hawk. On 3 August, the submarine encountered the launch Sea Witch, abandoned and adrift, about 50 miles (80.5 km) off Newcastle, New South Wales
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
.
Ovens became the first RAN submarine to fire an armed Mark 48 torpedo
Mark 48 torpedo
The Mark 48 and its improved ADCAP variant are heavyweight submarine-launched torpedoes. They were designed to sink fast, deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships.-History:...
, when she sank the decommissioned on 4 March 1987. On her return to port, Ovens flew a 'Jolly Roger' to indicate a successful mission: the first time a RAN submarine had done so.
Decommissioning and fate
Ovens paid off on 1 December 1995. She is preserved as a museum shipMuseum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
at the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
.